Two-time Olympic weightlifting medalist announces retirement

2018/06/04 23:10:10

Taipei, June 4 (CNA) Taiwanese weightlifter Hsu Shu-ching (許淑淨), who announced her retirement from competitive weightlifting on Sunday, said a day later that painful injuries forced her to make the decision.

At a press conference Monday, Hsu said she has been troubled by an old knee injury ever since the 2012 Olympics in London and was struggling with a new elbow injury that she sustained after the World Weightlifting Championship in Anaheim, California, last year.

The pain had become so excruciating that she could barely lift any weight for the past week, Hsu said, and doctors told her therapy for the injury would take at least a year.

"I didn't think I could make it in time for the Asian Games," she said.

Seeing that she would not be able to compete at the Asian Games in Jakarta in August and would have trouble being ready for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan, Hsu said she made the decision to announce her early retirement and become a weightlifting coach.

"It's been a tough call," she said, adding that injuries have been the bane of her existence during her 14 years as a professional weightlifter.

After retirement, Hsu said she would help train new young athletes while also trying to finish her doctoral degree at the same time.

"I'll get to spend more time with my family as well," she said.

The Taiwanese was a two-time Olympic gold medalist. She was the outright gold-medal winner in the women's 53-kg event in Rio in 2016, and was belatedly awarded gold in the same weight class in London in 2012 after original gold medalist Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan tested positive in 2016 for banned steroids.

In early 2016, she was named female Lifter of the Year for 2015 by the International Weightlifting Federation.